Mr BELL - 1995-11-23
Yesterday, the Chief Minister refused to answer this question because it required him to defend his Minister for Health Services yet again. I refer the minister to the total quality assurance research survey which states quite clearly that the Territory public hospital system is held in the lowest regard of any public hospital system in the country. Who does the minister say is responsible for this state of affairs? Does he think that he should bear some of the blame? If so, given his continued failures in this ministry, why should the Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and members of the public have any confidence in his discharging effectively his role as Minister for Health Services?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, having been in the job for 5 months, there is a temptation to claim some of the credit for the growing confidence that the community has in our health system and in our hospitals. However, I will place the credit for that where it is due, which is with all of the professionals and excellent administrators who, in the case of Royal Darwin Hospital, for example, have increased throughput by 24%. What does that mean? It means working more efficiently and more effectively, satisfying more customers and having increasing numbers of people move off the waiting lists. The waiting lists are reducing, particularly the areas with longer waiting lists and the hard-to-get specialties. They have had some very specific operational campaigns to reduce many of those waiting lists.
The member asked me about this survey. What was the survey? Telephone calls were made to 400 Territory homes, asking for people's perceptions of the health system and our public hospitals. In the main, people's perceptions are based on what they read in the media. That is not my interpretation. That was what people said. Thus, reading the full report or talking to the author of the report establishes very clearly that the main reason why Territorians do not have a high level of confidence in the hospital system is because of what they read in the newspapers.
The classically irresponsible line taken by the NT News about the Alice Springs Hospital is an example, when the AMA was crowing about the number of doctors in the system and whether or not there were enough doctors. That is not a very complex issue. It is one that could have been handled quite amicably within the system and, in the end, it was. Nevertheless, the banner headline appeared `Alice Springs Hospital Worst in Australia.' How does the member think people in the community feel about the Alice Springs Hospital when they read headlines like that? It was not based on fact, and it did not address the quality of service at Alice Springs Hospital. If the member has taken the trouble to visit Alice Springs Hospital, he would know that its Accident and Emergency Department is probably one of the finest facilities in a public hospital anywhere. It is an excellent facility, matched by ...
Mr Ede: It is overcrowded.
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Mr FINCH: Absolute rubbish!
Mr Ede: It is not. It is chock-a-block most nights.
Mr FINCH: Nonsense! Not only does it have excellent space, but the sophisticated equipment and technology are clearly apparent. In addition, the people there impart a feeling of confidence. Many of the highly-qualified and very committed doctors and nurses specialise in accident and emergency. And that is only the entrance to the hospital.
As for overcrowding, it was not overcrowded on the day that I was there. There may have been something of a downturn ...
Mr Ede: You should have gone back that night.
Mr FINCH: By the time we left, there was one person there. Of course, it does become crowded in the sense that there are peak flows, but it is not overcrowded. There are many beds because efficiencies and throughput in the system have been improved.
People's perceptions of quality reflect what they read in the newspapers. Members opposite have a propensity to run round on the backs of the media with irresponsible stories. For a change, why don't they think about what they are doing to the morale of those dedicated health professionals? Why don't they think about what they are doing to community confidence? They should go and look at the special care nursery at Royal Darwin Hospital, the rehabilitation centre, and the new single day surgery where throughput is projected to increase from 8000 to 14 000 this year. If they looked at some of these facilities, they could tell the community that they would be justified in having confidence in the system.
Did the member look at the next line in the same survey? What are people's perceptions about waiting lists in the Territory's public hospital system? Why do Territorians think they have the best hospital system and the shortest waiting lists in the country? The member did not read out that statistic. He is very selective and he has a very irresponsible attitude.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, having been in the job for 5 months, there is a temptation to claim some of the credit for the growing confidence that the community has in our health system and in our hospitals. However, I will place the credit for that where it is due, which is with all of the professionals and excellent administrators who, in the case of Royal Darwin Hospital, for example, have increased throughput by 24%. What does that mean? It means working more efficiently and more effectively, satisfying more customers and having increasing numbers of people move off the waiting lists. The waiting lists are reducing, particularly the areas with longer waiting lists and the hard-to-get specialties. They have had some very specific operational campaigns to reduce many of those waiting lists.
The member asked me about this survey. What was the survey? Telephone calls were made to 400 Territory homes, asking for people's perceptions of the health system and our public hospitals. In the main, people's perceptions are based on what they read in the media. That is not my interpretation. That was what people said. Thus, reading the full report or talking to the author of the report establishes very clearly that the main reason why Territorians do not have a high level of confidence in the hospital system is because of what they read in the newspapers.
The classically irresponsible line taken by the NT News about the Alice Springs Hospital is an example, when the AMA was crowing about the number of doctors in the system and whether or not there were enough doctors. That is not a very complex issue. It is one that could have been handled quite amicably within the system and, in the end, it was. Nevertheless, the banner headline appeared `Alice Springs Hospital Worst in Australia.' How does the member think people in the community feel about the Alice Springs Hospital when they read headlines like that? It was not based on fact, and it did not address the quality of service at Alice Springs Hospital. If the member has taken the trouble to visit Alice Springs Hospital, he would know that its Accident and Emergency Department is probably one of the finest facilities in a public hospital anywhere. It is an excellent facility, matched by ...
Mr Ede: It is overcrowded.
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Mr FINCH: Absolute rubbish!
Mr Ede: It is not. It is chock-a-block most nights.
Mr FINCH: Nonsense! Not only does it have excellent space, but the sophisticated equipment and technology are clearly apparent. In addition, the people there impart a feeling of confidence. Many of the highly-qualified and very committed doctors and nurses specialise in accident and emergency. And that is only the entrance to the hospital.
As for overcrowding, it was not overcrowded on the day that I was there. There may have been something of a downturn ...
Mr Ede: You should have gone back that night.
Mr FINCH: By the time we left, there was one person there. Of course, it does become crowded in the sense that there are peak flows, but it is not overcrowded. There are many beds because efficiencies and throughput in the system have been improved.
People's perceptions of quality reflect what they read in the newspapers. Members opposite have a propensity to run round on the backs of the media with irresponsible stories. For a change, why don't they think about what they are doing to the morale of those dedicated health professionals? Why don't they think about what they are doing to community confidence? They should go and look at the special care nursery at Royal Darwin Hospital, the rehabilitation centre, and the new single day surgery where throughput is projected to increase from 8000 to 14 000 this year. If they looked at some of these facilities, they could tell the community that they would be justified in having confidence in the system.
Did the member look at the next line in the same survey? What are people's perceptions about waiting lists in the Territory's public hospital system? Why do Territorians think they have the best hospital system and the shortest waiting lists in the country? The member did not read out that statistic. He is very selective and he has a very irresponsible attitude.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016